How do Namibians perceive their health-care system and the government’s efforts to improve health-care services? This dispatch presents findings from a special Afrobarometer Round 10 (2024) survey module focusing on health care.
Findings show that health ranks high among problems that Namibians want their government to address. A growing majority say that they or a family member went without needed medical care or medicines at least once during the previous year.
Many who seek services at public health facilities say they encounter difficulties in obtaining medical care, while overwhelming majorities report long wait times, shortages of medicines and medical supplies, absenteeism among health workers, and poor facility conditions.
More than eight in 10 citizens do not have medical-aid coverage, largely because they cannot afford it, and most say they worry about their ability to obtain or pay for medical care if they or family members become ill. There is strong public support for tax-financed health care for all, even if achieving it requires higher taxes.
While two-thirds of Namibians say they trust the MHSS, a growing majority are dissatisfied with the government’s performance on improving basic health services.
Key Findings
- Health ranks fourth among the most important problems that Namibians want their government to address.
- The proportion of citizens who see it as a priority problem has doubled since 2017, from 11% to 22%.
- More than two-thirds (69%) of citizens report that they or a family member went without needed medicine or medical care at least once during the previous year. The proportion who say this happened “many times” or “always” has risen from 3% to 20% since 2014.
- Among the 60% of respondents who had contact with a public clinic or hospital during the year preceding the survey:
- Four in 10 (40%) say it was difficult to obtain the services they needed, an increase of 15 percentage points since 2014.
- About one in six (15%) say they had to pay a bribe, give a gift, or do a favour to obtain the services they needed.
- And vast majorities say they encountered long wait times (90%), shortages of medicines or medical supplies (83%), absent medical staff (79%), and facilities in poor condition (77%).
- Health insurance remains limited: Only 15% of Namibians say they have medical-aid coverage.
- Most citizens who lack health insurance (74%) cite its unaffordability as the primary reason.
- An overwhelming majority (88%) of citizens say they worry at least “a little” about being unable to obtain or afford medical care if they or their family members become sick, including 55% who say they worry “a lot.”
- Almost two-thirds (64%) of respondents “agree” or “strongly agree” that the government should ensure universal access to health care, even if it means raising taxes.
- More than half (58%) of Namibians disapprove of their government’s performance on improving basic health services, a proportion that has more than tripled over the past two decades.
- Nonetheless, two-thirds (65%) of citizens say they trust the MHSS.